Inside move: Rubin rips KABC exec

Entertainment reporter upset over nixed Regis piece

Sam Rubin can cross the Walt Disney Co. off his list of prospective future employers.

On Monday’s “KTLA Morning News,” entertainment reporter Rubin devoted more than five minutes to an unfiltered diatribe against Arnie Kleiner, the general manager of cross-town ABC O&O KABC Los Angeles. Kleiner’s generally well-regarded around town, but Rubin clearly isn’t one of his fans.

In addition to calling Kleiner “the devil,” Rubin described Kleiner as “downright dumb” and “the single most ill-informed, mean-spirited and, well, lame-brained TV exec I’ve ever had the displeasure of talking to.”

So what got Sam so salty?

Neither KABC nor KTLA was talking Monday. But during Rubin’s rant, the reporter described a run-in with Kleiner over an interview Rubin planned for Monday with the stars of the syndicated talker “Live With Regis and Kelly.”

The interview was intended for KTLA sister station WGN Chicago, which airs “Live.” But KTLA was also promoting Rubin’s chat.

Since “Live” airs in Los Angeles on Kleiner’s KABC — and the gabber is also distributed by Disney division Buena Vista Television — Kleiner apparently felt it inappropriate for Rubin to be conducting an interview with Philbin and Ripa for WGN and possibly KTLA (at least according to Rubin).